Oozing Goo - The Lava Lamp Syndicate

I apologize if this has been posted before, I didn't really come across anything when I searched the site and I'm a newbie.

So I broke down and bought a 52 oz. 50th Anniversary lava lamp from lavalamp.com. It shipped in a day and arrived in great condition aside from some was that rubbed off on the inside of the globe. I have it on a timer so I know that it only runs for 8 hours. I was really happy with it, it was clear and the flow was great. I have been running it everyday for a week. Today I had it on for about 6 hours when I noticed that the globe had cracked and was starting to leak into the base. Needless to say I was very upset because 1) it should last longer than a week and 2) with it leaking into the base it was obviously an electrical hazard . Anyways, I was wondering what I need to do to either return it to lava lamp or obtain a replacement as it doesn't really state how to return items on the website. I plan on contacting them in the morning.

Secondly, has anyone had this happen before? What are the chances that this will keep happening? Thanks for the feedback.

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your best bet is to contact lava lite and explain to them what happened.  they will ship you a new lamp at no cost.

(800) 336-5282

https://lavalamp.com/ContactUs

welcome to oozing goo!

LL replaced a few of my lamps and they were purchased at Spencer's and were out of warranty.  The only globe that I've heard of failing was a grande that actually imploded.....it must have had a hairline crack in it or it was deformed in some way and when that failed it was fully powered on in full flow and "blew up"........your lucky you caught it before that happened....but yes, LL will stand behind that especially if you got it from them in the last 2 weeks.

 

Welcome to OG!!!

Thanks for the replies. I have contacted LavaLamp. Just sent them my info and pics today. Hopefully will be receiving a new lamp soon!

It may take a few weeks.  When they replaced mine it took awhile.  I think that was partly due to it being purchased awhile back, being out of warranty and also I didn't get it through them.

Great news, my replacement lamp is being delivered tomorrow!
That was fast!
It was fast! Delivered before 8:30 this morning. Was shipped last night from IL. Everything looks to be in order. Just plugged it in. Hoping the flow is as good as the last one and this one doesn't crack. Fingers crossed!

great to hear!  now what are you going to do with the base and liquid/wax that are perfectly fine (i assume - unless a significant amount leaked out)?

Well, the base is probably shot. It had quite a bit of fluid leak into it. I may keep the old wax/liquid and attempt to make my own. Especially since yellow/ clear is hard to find. 

However, I'm beginning to think I have just plan bad luck with lava lamps. The new one is having issues. During the "stalagmite" phase all of the wax went to the top and have just one time little shoot of wax left on the coil. Not sure what to do about it. Any suggestions since you guys are the experts???? I did wrap it with a towel, hoping that it would help. Thanks again!

sound like it's overheating, but who knows since it's brand new.  obviously it should flow right out of the tube...i'd shut it off, let it cool, and then turn it back on.  if that doesn't work, i'd contact LL again and let them know.  there are some other things you can try, like swapping the clear bulb out for a frosted one, or use a dimmer, but you shouldn't need to do that.  also, if the room is hot (~80F or so), it will overheat for sure.

My 52 oz china LL pink/white does that same thing.  The whole stinkin blob of wax will hover all the way at the top, but then it does fall back to the coil, remelts and then it starts flowing normally.  This lamp also used to flip coil at every start up!  I'm not sure if that has anything to do with anything, but i'm thinking that lamps of this nature might possibly have a coil problem.  My other LL purple/yellow 52 oz that was supposed to be a replacement from LL had a bad coil.  I know this because when I kitted it, the same type of flow happened.  One mound at the bottom and a pea shooter would come up every 3 to 5 seconds.  Since I took it down, replaced the coil, it is one of my best flowing lamps.  Erin has experienced a lot of gunk that builds up in her coils of her china lamps.  I am really starting to believe that a lot of these LL china problem with poor flow, wax detaching from the coil, are related solely to the coil and not the goo. 

 

You can try taking the globe off of the base and putting it on a flat surface and GENTLY swirling it back and forth as if you were warming your hands on a cold winters day is how it was explained in one writing.  It's a lot easier said then done with a 52oz but a grande can be quite cumbersome to handle.  In my experiences with this, this will work short term, but then it usually detaches again. 

 

As Brad pointed out, if the temp in the room is super hot, a lamp will overheat, but it being a grade, I haven't heard of too many of them actually overheating.  Usually it is the opposite.  Take too long to warm up. I'm taking it that these Anniversary lamps do not come with a dimmer aboard?  That's a shame.  I attach a dimmer to all of my LL lamps.  Especially in the summer when my a/c is full blast.  I can't get anything to flow on a 40 watt, so I put in a 60 (in my 52's) and then after it is in full flow, I can dial it down to achieve the flow I want.  I know this shouldn't have to be done with a NEW lamp, but they are super helpful, especially if you have a certain type of flow you want to TRY to achieve.  You can buy them pretty cheap online and if you're only looking at like one it's not too bad.  You need to get the ones that you plug the lamp into, not the ones that you have to wire inline.  Lamp dimmers they are called.  They are a MUST HAVE for people that goo-kit their lamps!!!

 

Good luck!!!

Sparty, just reread your previous thread and found out you were dealing with a 52 oz, duh!!!  lol!!  Sorry it's too early still for me!  Haven't finished my first cup of Folgers!!!  lol!!  I'll have to take pics of my pink 52 oz doing this same thing.  Now it probably won't do it because I want it to, lol!!  This lamp I just recently put a 60 watt frosted bulb in and attached a dimmer.  I am getting a bit more stretchier flow, but it still is quite what we call a "juggler" thanks to our fellow OG member Keith, lol!!  One ball up, one ball down, etc......ZZzzzzz, this will probably turn in to an orange/black for Halloween.  As much as I like the color pink that it throws, the flow does absolutely nothing for me....so I may have to order more goo, some black dye and go for it!!!!

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